Bangladesh security forces kill two, sparking rights concerns

Dhaka: Bangladeshi security forces killed two men Thursday in a crackdown on rising violent crime, a spokesman said, rejecting fears the deaths appeared to mirror previous notorious tactics of extra-judicial killings.

Sami-Ud-Dowla Chowdhury, spokesman for the security forces, said two men were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning after they shot at officers trying to arrest them in connection to a spate of robberies.

“The perpetrators opened fire from the roof of a single-story building, prompting the team to retaliate,” the security forces said in a statement, saying officers “recovered two dead bodies” as well as machetes and a pistol. Five other men were arrested. “They were culprits,” Chowdhury said.

Bangladesh has been struggling to control crime since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced from power in August 2024 by a mass uprising against her iron-fisted rule.

Under her watch, Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies faced accusations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Police in Dhaka said the number of robberies has doubled since January last year.

During Hasina’s rule, the feared paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) carried out scores of killings. The force was slapped with US sanctions in 2021, after which extrajudicial killings stopped.

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a leading Bangladeshi human rights organisation, warned against heavy-handed tactics.

“We urge law enforcement agencies to conduct raids with caution to avoid loss of lives,” Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir told AFP.

“Over the last two decades, we have witnessed thousands of extrajudicial killings, which had zero impact on the law-and-order situation. Excessive force has achieved nothing.”

Security forces named the two men killed as Miraz Hossain 25, and Mohammed Jummon, 26.

“The military could have arrested them and locked them up,” Hossain’s mother, Surma Begum, told AFP. “Why did they kill him?”

Resident Rahima Begum saw around a dozen military vehicles at the scene, and residents were instructed to shut their doors and stay inside.